But I Truly Do Love You
by Geneviev
Summary: Steph confesses her feeling for Ranger, thanks to Diesel's encouragement. Angsty.


**Disclaimer and Warning:** I don't own anything. Everything belongs to Janet Evanovich. You will find spoilers through _Twelve Sharp_, and yes that includes _Visions of Sugar Plums_. Mainly this is just a combination of my muse waking up and fluff. Yes, this is a 'Babe' story. You have been warned. Cupcakes, turn back now.

But I Truly Do Love You

Ah, winter in Trenton, New Jersey. I watched giant snowflakes float through the air as I walked to my cherry red brand new Jeep Liberty. The payments were killing me, but at least I was riding around in style. I got my scraper from the back seat and started chipping away the ice on the windshield and windows while the car warmed up. I was on my way to stock up on Tasty Kakes before there was too much snow.

I finished up my chiseling and hoped in my car and headed for Giovichinni's in the Burg.

I got a cart and loaded it with all kinds of Tasty Kakes, Little Debbie's, coffee cakes, cookies, pies, cakes, and other lard filled items I could find. That's right; I was going on a serious binge. I was also celebrating. First off, the bonds office was closed for the next two weeks for the holiday and renovations. Second, I just caught a skip with a bond of $200,000. That's right; I had $20,000 in my bank account. Ranger was out of town, so the skip went to _mua._ I had originally been royally pissed at Vinnie for assigning me a serial killer-rapist, but it turned out he was drunk out of him mind and passed out in his kitchen and all I had to do was cuff and shackle him and haul…drag (so what if he might have some scraps and bruises from being dragged in the cement)…him to my car and take him in.

I added a bag of green beans (for Rex, but nobody has to know that) and a bunch of bananas to my cart, along with some cheap white bread, Jiff peanut butter (the good stuff, not the crappy _natural_ stuff that's _healthy_ for you), and a jar of olives, and headed for the checkout.

I stood at my kitchen counter with a Chocolate Mudslide Oreo Cake and a tall glass of whole milk and dug in. God, it was so good. I almost hit climax with the first bite.

I felt a presence of someone behind me. I turned around and searched the area. No one. I went back to my cake, the feeling still there. A moment later, all the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, there was definitely someone there. I turned around again. No one, again. Hmm. I went back to my cake.

Suddenly, I heard the voice of the person. I recognized the voice, but couldn't tell right off who it was. It was a deep male voice. "That's not very healthy, Sweetheart." It wasn't Ranger or any of the Merry Men. I turned around, once again (all this distraction from my Chocolate Mudslide Oreo Cake was getting annoying) and saw a man, about six feet tall, wavy blonde pony tail, good looks, and hard muscle leaning against the counter opposite me in my kitchen. Diesel.

My mouth dropped open and my eyes popped out of my head. I think I also had a heart attack from surprise. "What the hell are _you_ doing here? How the hell'd you get in?" From my spot at the counter, I had a clear view of the front door.

"Well, hello to you too. And I have my ways of getting in places other than doors, remember?"

"I forgot you weren't all human."

"I am too all human. I'm just a different human."

I did a Burg-girl eye roll. "What ever, not human, different human; it's all the same. What are you doing here?"

"What _aren't_ I doing here? I haven't seen you in almost a year." He came toward me, wrapped his arms around me and placed a kiss on my cheek. "Now where are your forks, you need to share."

The rest of the cake, a coffee cake, and half a cherry pie later, we were on the couch talking. "So, I hear you're having man trouble, Sweetheart," Diesel announces. "Tell me what's going on."

"Where'd you get that from?" I asked, suddenly defensive. Hey, this is _my_ life.

"I know these things. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot you weren't human." So much to keep track of. "If you're not human and all that jazz, don't you already know what my man troubles are?"

"Hey, cut me some slack here. They don't tell you _everything_ when their beaming you in. What's going on between you and Ranger?"

"I thought they don't tell you everything. How do you know it's between me and Ranger? Maybe it's between me and Morelli. _Maybe_ it's between me and some other random guy."

"First of all," he started, "They told me it was between you and Ranger. Second, it's been over between you and Joe Morelli since the Scrog incident. Third, I've been watching you some and know some things. You can basically call me a good intergalactic guy-friend."

I was caught by surprise that he knew about Scrog and that he'd been watching me. I thought about my phone conversation a few months before with Ranger, during the whole Scrog fiasco.

"_We have unfinished business," Ranger said._

"_We _always _have unfinished business. Just out of morbid curiosity, how would you define your role in my life?"_

"_I'm dessert," he said._

"_Something that gives me pleasure, but isn't especially good for me?"_

"_Something that could never be the base of your pyramid."_

"He's dessert," I explained to Diesel. "He can never be the base of my pyramid."

Diesel gave me a quizzical look and started laughing uncontrollably.

After calming down a bit I demanded, "What in the hell is so funny?"

"Are you trying to tell me that _dessert_ can't be the base of your pyramid? Do you have any idea what we just ate? A cake, a coffee cake, and we just finished a pie! Man, you do have troubles."

I ran all this through my head. He was absolutely, incredibly right. Dessert _is_ the base of my pyramid. I was a junkie for junk food.

I let out a long sigh of defeat. "What am I supposed to do? He doesn't want a relationship with me. He loves me, but in his own way. He doesn't do commitments."

Diesel pulled me into his side. "Sweetheart, I've been watching Ranger, too. And he does. You're all that's on his mind. That man's crazy about you. And I know he wants a relationship with you. Go find him and go talk to him."

"But---"

"Go…go make things right." He gave me another bear hug and a kiss and backed away. He turned into a floating green bubble and _pop!_ goes the Diesel.

One foot in front of the other, Steph, I told myself just outside the elevator. So far I had gotten from my car to the RangeMan elevator and gotten off the elevator on the seventh floor. Now, my legs seemed to just not work. It was if I had forgotten how to walk. I just couldn't. There was no explanation.

Out of the blue, there was a green bubble floating in front of me. And then, _pop! _it was gone. Diesel. I really hoped the control room didn't pick that up. I sat contemplating the power of the 'non-human Diesel' to the power of 'RangeMan security cameras;' wondering if Diesel showed up.

The door to Ranger's apartment opened and out stepped Ranger himself. He looked edible in his crisp white dress shirt and black suit pants. The shirt and the sleeves rolled and he was barefoot save for socks. "Control called and said I should probably come get you. It looked like you forgot how to walk. And then you started looking really confused after a green bubble appeared on the screen."

And the 'RangeMan security cameras' won. "You'd think they'd teach you how to not show up on security cameras in non-human training." I gave my head a slight disappointed shake. Ranger just gave an empty stare with a raised eye-brow. I decided to wave it off until later. I looked at Ranger with a deadpan expression. "We have to talk."

Humoring me, he opened the door and waved me in. I went in and sat on his couch and waited until he took a seat across from me. He leaned forward on steepled fingers. "Shoot." His monosyllabic sentence.

"Ranger, I love you. And before you say anything, I know you're my dessert. But, Diesel and I just ate a cake, a coffee cake, and a cherry pie. So dessert is at the base of my food pyramid. And there's no reason me and you shouldn't be together; so don't tell me we shouldn't because I love you. And I know you love me, too; because you've said so and even though it's in your own way, it's still love."

Wow. I couldn't believe I had gotten all that out. I looked at Ranger. He just started at me, blank faced, processing what I just said. Now that I think about it, I should probably think about what I just said, also. I just spilled my guts to the man. I just spilled my guts to a man who wasn't responding. I felt a rush of mixed emotions. Fear, sadness, idiocy, pain…just to name a few. I felt tears sting the back of my eyes. I had been rejected by the one man I had truly loved with everything I had. I needed cake. A lot of cake. I stood up and walked toward the door.

I opened the door, unchecked tears falling down my cheeks. I got into the hallway and ran toward the elevator. I took it back to the garage and ran towards my car. I laid rubber peeling out of the garage and sped home, hoping either I was going to die in an accident or that I wasn't going to get pulled over.

I was trying to hold it all back until I got into the security of my apartment. An emotional breakdown was bubbling to the surface. I fumbled with the lock on my door.

I raced to my bed and flopped down on my stomach, sobbing into my pillow. Huge, loud sobs raked my body. I felt as if I had been stabbed in the heart.

Between sobs, I heard the door open and I turned around to see a green bubble. "I thought they taught you how to not show up on camera when you're not a human," I told him between sobs.

Diesel let out a chuckle and sat down on the edge of the bed. "They do, but it takes too much energy and you looked like you needed to be reminded what you were there to do."

"Well, I should've just turned around then and there and saved myself the embarrassment."

"Wrong. You shouldn't have left. You should have listened to what he had to say," he advised and then, _pop!_ went the green bubble.

The door to my apartment opened. "Babe?" I heard Ranger call out.

I took in a deep steadying breath as he walked toward my bedroom. He came in and sat on the edge of my bed. He had on the jacket and shoes to complete the suit. "Babe, who's Diesel?"

I felt a wry smile spread across my face. "The green bubble on the screen."

I don't think that really answered his question, but he moved on. "Why did you leave?"

I sensed fresh tears staining my face. "I thought you didn't love me. I felt like an idiot. I had to get out of there."

Ranger cradled my face in his hands and looked into my eyes. I looked away, not able to meet his eyes, I focused my vision on a pair of pale pink flannel pajama pants on the floor of my bedroom.

"Babe, look at me, please."

I slowly switched my view from the pink lump of fabric on the floor to Ranger's warm, melted chocolate brown eyes. I could see everything. There was no blank face. I could see his love and compassion for me in his eyes.

"Babe." He pulled my closer to him and lowered him mouth on mine and kissed me lightly and slowly with soft lips. He slowly pulled back and looked into my eyes. "Babe, I truly do love you. So incredibly much."

He backed away and got down on the floor on one knee and pulled out a black velvet jewelry box from his jacket. In side the box was a four karat diamond ring with diamonds along the gold band. It gleamed in the light the came in through the bedroom window. I was in awe. I was dumbstruck. Was this really happening?

"Stephanie," Ranger said, "Please, will you marry me? Please, Steph. I love you."

A big goofy grin spread across my face. Diesel was right. "Yes," I said. He put the ring on my finger and kissed me senseless.

**Finis!**

Ta-dah! Tell me what you think. I'm highly greatful for feedback; good, bad, questions, advice, the works! Thanks for reading! Geneviev


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